Garment hanger



L. s. WYLIE GARMENT HANGER Sept. 18, 1962 Filed Sept. 21, 1959 INVENTOR.

6 LAURENCE 5. WYL IE 3,054,540 GARMENT HANGER Laurence S. Wylie, 4% S. Hidalgo, Alhambra, Calif. Filed Sept. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 841,108 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-95) This invention relates to a garment hanger and is more particularly concerned with a skirt and/ or trouser hanger.

Many and various skirt trouser hanging devices have been provided in the past. Most of these devices have involved clamping and/ or hooking means for engaging the garments related thereto and require that the garments be folded, as in the case of skirts, or that they be inverted, as in the case of trousers.

A disadvantage found in available trouser hangers resides in the fact that they are made so as to hook or clamp the cuffs of the trousers. This requires the trousers to be inverted, necessitates emptying the pockets of the trousers and further requires the careful folding of the trousers and engagement of the hanger therewith so as to assure proper orientation of the cuffs.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel garment hanger which does not require folding and/ or inverting of the garments related thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger of the character referred to which supports the garments related thereto in a manner whereby they hang freely in their natural drape and constructed or pressed folds and creases.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a hanger of the character refererd to which is adapted to engage in the waist band of a skirt or trousers.

An object is to provide a hanger of the character referred to which is self-adjustable, that is, a hanger which will cooperatively engage garments having waist bands of varying extent without the necessity of making special adjustment of the hanger.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a garment hanger of the character referred to wherein the weight of the garment holds the garment in proper engagement and so that excessive stretching and creasing forces are not encountered.

It is an object of the persent invention to provide a garment hanger of the character referred to which is easy and economical to manufacture, a hanger which is easy to use and a hanger which is both highly effective and dependable in operation.

The various objects and features of my invention will be fully understood from the following detailed description of a typical preferred form and application of my invention, throughout which description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of my new garment hanger construction and showing a garment in phantom lines, related thereto.

FIG. 2 is a view taken as indicated by line 22 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a secitonal view of a portion of my new construction taken as indicated by line 33 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a portion of my new construction with a friction pad related thereto.

The hanger construction provided by the present invention includes generally, a body A, a central vertical rod B fixed to and projecting upwardly from the body and provided with a clothes pole engaging hook at its upper end, a pair of arms C pivotally carried by the body and projecting upwardly and outwardly from the opposite sides of the rod B and provided with garment engaging heads 11 at the outer ends, a slide D slidably engaged on the rod and links E pivotally connected with and extending between the slide and the arms.

The body A that I provide is a simple, substantially 3,054,549 Patented Sept. 18, 1952 U-shaped, sheet metal element having a bottom 12 and flat, vertically disposed side plates 13 projecting upwardly from the bottom in lateral spaced relationship. In the case illustrated, the side plates are semi-circular in plane configuration and have arcuate outer edges.

The rod B that I provide is a simple, elongate, vertically disposed wire or rod having the hook 10 formed at its upper end and having an eye 14 formed at its lower end.

The lower end portion of the rod is slidably engaged between the side plates 13 of the body A, centrally of the body and is secured to the body by means of a suitable rivet fastener 15 engaged through the said side plates and the eye 14.

In the construction illustrated and to prevent pivoting of the rod B on the rivet 15 and relative to the body A, the outer edges of the side plates 13 of the body are dimpled, as at 16, at the opposite sides of the rod.

It is to be understood that, in practice, the lower end of the rod B could be secured to the body in another manner, say, for example, as by welding, and that the particular construction illustrated is only illustrative of one carrying out of the invention.

The arms Cthat I provide are simple, elongate, unitary members formed of wire or rod stock and have inner end portions to occur between the side plates 13 of the body A, and outer ends on which the heads 11 are established.

The inner ends of the arms C are formed and provided with eyes 17 and are pivotally connected with the body A by means of rivet fasteners 18 projecting through the side plates 13 of the body and the said eyes 17.

In practice, any suitable means can be provided to pivotally secure the inner ends of the arms C to the body, as for example, the side plates of the body could be provided with inwardly extending projections which enter the eyes on the arms.

The arms C are arranged to occur at the opposite sides of the rod B and so as to project laterally outwardly and upwardly relative thereto, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

Each arm C has an eye 19 intermediate its ends which eye is formed therein as by suitably bonding the stock from which the arm is made. The eye 19 is formed to project laterally from the upper inner side of the arm and is adapted to connect with one of the links E as will hereinafter be described.

The heads 11 on the arms are simple loops established by binding the outer end portions of the arms and establishing rounded ends on the arms which will not pierce or otherwise damage the garments related thereto.

The slide D that I provide is a simple, elongate, tubular member slidably engaged on the rod B to shift vertically relative thereto and is provided with ears 20 at its opposite sides and at one end thereof, to project substantially laterally outwardly from diametrically opposite sides thereof. The ears 20 are apertures to cooperatively receive the adjacent ends of the links, as will hereinafter be described.

The links E are simple elongate wire members and are formed at their inner and outer ends to establish eyes or loops 21 and 22. The loop 21 at the inner end of each link is engaged through one of the apertured cars 20 on the slide and the loop 21 of each link is engaged through the eye 19 on the arm C related thereto.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that when the slide is shifted vertically, upwardly or downwardly on the rod, the arms C, by virtue of the linked connection with the slide, pivot upwardly and inwardly or downwardly and outwardly accordingly.

It will be further apparent that the same relative shifting and movement of parts will result by urging the arms, one or both, upwardly or downwardly.

Stillfurther, it will be apparent that gravity normally urges the arms in the down or extended position.

In operation, when it is desired to hang a pair of trousers with my new construction, the fly of the trousers,

if such is provided, is closed as by snapping, buttoning or Zipping. The hanger is then inserted into the inside of the trousers through the upper open waist portion thereof. During this operation, the arms are free to pivot inwardly and upwardly. When the heads on the arms engage Within the waist band portion of the trousers, the hanger is then elevated. Upon elevation of the hanger, the heads on the arms bite or take a purchase on the trousers, inside the waist band thereof and suitably support the trousers.

It will be apparent that the heavier the trousers are, or should the trousers be pulled, the tighter or more secure the engagement of the heads 11 with the trousers becomes.

When it is desired to remove the hanger from the trousers, the operator need only manually elevate the slide D which will result in upward and inward pivoting of the arms C and resulting disengagement of the heads ll on the arms from the trousers.

It will be apparent that the hanger that I provide will satisfactorily function in the same manner when related to a skirt or other similar garment.

In practice, if desired, the head 11 on each arm C can be provided with a suitable pad 25 (see FIG. 4), which pad can be in the nature of a rack formed of foam plastic or rubber and such that it establishes superior frictional engagement with the garments than does the simple wire loop and such that it is less apt to leave a mark in the garment than the loop.

It is to be understood that in practice, the hanger that I provide could be formed of wood or other materials and that the particular construction illustrated and described is only typical of one preferred carrying out of the invention.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of my invention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specific details herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any modifications or variations that may appear to those skilled in the .art and fall within'the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A self-expanding garment hanger comprising a U- shaped body, said body including an elongated generally planar bottom'and 'a'pair of generally planar side plates extending along the elongate extent of the bottom and extending from the bottom at approximately right angles thereto, said side plates being laterally spaced and aligned andjsu-bstantially parallel, an elongated hanging rod disposed between the side plates of the body and extending "therefrom at approximately right angles to the planar ,extent of the bottom of the body, said hanging rod being jiix'ed to the side plates at a location adjacent to the bottom of the bodyand also at a location spaced along the hanging rod fromthe bottom of the body and adjacent to the edges fot the side plates remote from thevbottom so that the llianging rod' and body are connected together in fixed relation to' each other, said hanging rod being disposed "at approximately the middle of the elongate extent of the bottom of the body with the body extending symmetrically f transversely on each side of the elongate extent of the haii'g ing roi'hookmeans for hanging the hangin'g'rod 1 located atthe end of the hanging rod remote from the body,-' anjelongatedarm disposed in slidable engagement be tweenthe side plates of the body on each side of the hanging rod and extending outwardly from the body, each aim being pivotally attached to the side plates of the body at a location adjacent the bottom of the body and adjacent the hanging rod on each side thereof, said arms being ."identical and being disposed one on each side of the hanging rod symmetrically with respect to the hanging rod, the elongate extents of the arms and the hanging rod being coplanar, a garment engaging head fixedly attached to each arm at the end thereof remote from the body, a slide member surrounding the hanging rod and freely slidable on the hanging rod between the body and the hook means, a link extending between the slide member and each arm, each link being identical and each link being pivotally connected to the slide member and pivotally connected to the arm at approximately the mid-point of the arm between the garment engaging head on the arm and the pivotal connection of the arm to the side plates of the body, theextent of each link between its pivotal connections to the slide'member and to the arm being slightly less than the extent of the arm between its pivotal connections to the side plates of the body and to the link and said links and their pivotal connections to the arms being symmetrical about the elongate extent of the hanging rod.

2. A self-expanding garment hanger comprising a U- shaped body, said body including an elongated generally planar bottom and a pair of generally planar side plates extending along the elongate extent of the bottom and extending from the bottom at approximately right angles thereto, said side plates being laterally spaced and aligned and substantially parallel, an elongated hanging rod disposed between the side plates of the body and extending therefrom at approximately right'angles to the planar extent of the bottom of the body, said hanging rod being fixed to the side plates at a location adjacent tothe bottom of the body and also at a location spaced along the hanging rod from the bottom of the body and adjacent to the edges of the side plates remote from the bottom so that the hanging rod and body are connected together in fixed relation to each other, said hanging rod being disposed at approximately the middle of the elongate extent of the bottom of the body with the body extending symmetrically transversely on each side of the elongate extent of the hanging rod, hook means for hanging the hanging rod located at the end of the hanging rod remote from the body, an elongated arm disposed in slidable engagement between the side plates of the body on each side of the hanging rod and extending outwardly from the body, each arm being pivotally attached to the side plates of the body at a location adjacent the bottom of the body and adjacent the hanging rod on each side thereof, said arms being identical and being disposed one on each side of the hanging rod symmetrically with respect to the hanging rod, the elongate extents of the arms and the hanging rod being c0- planar, a garment engaging head fixedly attached to each arm at the end thereof remote from the body, a slide member surrounding the hanging rod and freely slidable on the hanging rod between the body and the hook means,

a link extending between the slide member and each arm,

pivotal connection of the arm to the side plates of the body, the extent of each link between its pivotal connections to the slide member and to the arm being slightly less than the extent of the arm between its pivotal connections to the side plates of the body and to the link and said links and their pivotal connections to the arms being symmetrical about theelongate extent of'the hanging rod, the length of each link between its pivotal connections to the slide member and'to the arm plus the length of the arm between its pivotal connections to the link and to the side plates of the body being slightly less than the elongate length of the hanging rod between the hook means and its connection to the side plates of the body adjacent to the bottom thereof, and the total length of each arm between its garment engaging head and its pivotal connection to the side plates of the body being slightly lessthan the total elongate length of the hanging rod between its hook means and its connection to the body adjacent to the botelongate vertically disposed'hanging rod having hook means at its upper end, a pair of co-planar equal length elongate ar'ms having inner and outer ends,-'means' connected to the lower end of the hanging rod pivotably mounting the inner ends of the arms in a plane which includes the rod and on opposite sides of the rod and for guiding movement of said arms within a single plane, the arms extending oppositely outwardly and upwardly from said means, a head portion fixedly attached to each arm at the outer end thereof to engage in a garment, a slide member slidably mounted on the rod for unbiased reciprocal movement therealong, and a pair of rigid link members having a length less than one-half the length of the elongate arms, each link member at one end being pivotally connected to the slide member on opposite sides thereof to extend oppositely outwardly and downwardly from the slide member to a pivotal connection at its other end with the adjacent elongate arm substantially at the mid- 15 2,409,700

length of the arm whereby the difference between the length of the link members and the length between the points of pivoting at the mid-length of the arms and said means assures that the arms are outwardly and upwardly oriented, the hanging rod and the elongated arms being disposed within the garment when the head portions of the arms are engaged in the garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,780,153 Francsics Nov. 4, 1930 2,259,692 Hegedus Oct. 21, 1941 2,393,632 Hartz Jan. 29, 1946 Loselle Oct. 22, 1946 

